For the first time in 2 decades, the U.S. government has shut down. Media have focused a great deal of attention on the closure of national parks and restrictions to veterans’ benefits. In social media, the outrage over the National Zoo’s “Panda Cam” has run high. Yet, the impact this shutdown will have on the health of Americans, and particularly those with cancer, is largely being overlooked.

The FDA is launching a new program in which they will consider and incorporate the patient perspective into drug development. They will choose 20 diseases for the program and the MRF is lobbying to have melanoma be one of them. As we all know, the patient perspective is important in any disease, but it is especially true with melanoma.